Megan Peterson is a new graduate student at SFOS. Shown here with a baby sea otter, Peterson previously worked as an intern at the Alaska SeaLife Center.
SFOS Newsletter
Fall 2009
Welcome Aboard
by Madeline Scholl, Academic Programs Assistant
As we usher in a new academic year I would like to welcome and introduce our new graduate students joining the SFOS community this fall. The 19 graduate students joining SFOS this September come from a variety of locations within and outside of the United States. From Maine to Alabama, Iceland to Tehran, and from right here in Alaska, our incoming graduate students embody the great diversity of the SFOS student body as a whole. Their research interests are just as diverse, covering all areas of fisheries and marine science, including freshwater fisheries, stream ecology, chemical oceanography, fish genetics and seafood technology.
This fall will also be the first semester of the Marine Ecosystem Sustainability in the Subarctic and Arctic (MESAS) Fellowship program, of which three of our new doctoral students have received.
I asked our incoming students to answer a brief survey so we could learn more about how they chose their field of study, what they hope to study and achieve while at SFOS, and where they hope to go after graduation. We received responses from some of our new students and I would like to share a little about them.
Drawn to Alaska's world-renowned fisheries and fish processing industry, Naim Montazeri Djouybari, M.S. seafood science student, has travelled from Tehran, Iran, to join Brian Himelbloom and Alexandra Oliveira at the Fishery Industrial Technology Center in Kodiak. As part of the interdisciplinary seafood science and nutrition program, Naim will work on a project investigating the "application of liquid smoke (as an alternative preservative) on cold-smoked salmon, and to assess the quality characteristics of the final product." Naim explains that although he does not yet have specific plans after graduation he says that "getting involved in this excellent research community will open new doors to me and help me plan for my future."
Rachael Blevins, a MESAS fellow, will join Shannon Atkinson's lab at the Fisheries Division in Juneau to focus on acoustic monitoring of beluga whales in the Cook Inlet. As a budding marine biologist at the age of nine, Rachael received the "Future Rachel Carson" award at a marine biology camp. Blevins recalls how happy she was to receive this award, as the legendary biologist, writer, and ecologist Rachel Carson was one of Blevins' greatest influences.
Cat Chambers in Homer, Alaska.
Catherine (Cat) Chambers, also a MESAS fellow, moved from a small fishing town on the northern coast of Iceland to Fairbanks to pursue interdisciplinary fisheries research with Courtney Carothers. Cat plans to use Carothers' expertise in environmental anthropology and fishing communities as a guide to formulate her own research questions. The MESAS program, Cat explains, piqued her interest because she was "introduced to issues in sustainable fisheries and political factors that influence fishing communities in Iceland" and she plans to "relate this work back to Alaska and possibly draw comparisons between North Pacific fisheries and Icelandic fisheries." After completing her Ph.D. Cat hopes to share her knowledge and experience with others through teaching and mentoring. "I enjoy bringing knowledge to others and helping any way I can," she said.
We, the SFOS Academic Programs staff, also enjoy helping our students any way we can and are very excited to meet and welcome our incoming students-- both graduate and undergraduate! Getting to know our students and watching them progress through their research and coursework is one of the most fulfilling aspects of our job. Please join us in welcoming our students to a new academic year!
Click on the image to download the Fall 2009 newsletter (5.6 MB PDF).
Greetings from the Dean
This will be an exciting year for
the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. After adding seven new faculty members last year, five new faculty
will join us this semester and two more after the first of the year. We also begin this semester with more graduate students and the largest incoming class of fisheries undergraduates (20) in our history.
New findings show increased
ocean acidification in Alaska
The same things that make Alaska's marine waters among the
most productive in the world may also make them the most vulnerable to ocean acidification.
According to new findings by a University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist, Alaska's oceans
are becoming increasingly acidic, which could damage Alaska's king crab and salmon fisheries.
Christie takes over Alaska Sea Grant
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has appointed David Christie as the director of the Alaska Sea Grant College Program.
Bristol Bay region welcomes local as new Marine
Advisory Program agent
Bristol Bay, home to Alaska's largest wild commercial salmon fishery, once again has an Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory
Program agent to help fishermen, seafood processors and marketers, and other marine resource users.
Spotlight: Richard H. Carlson Scholarship
Scholarships are increasingly important as our current economy encourages more people to attend and return
to higher education. In times like these, scholarships are vital because for many students scholarships are the
difference between taking two classes or four, filling up their gas tank or buying books, and
they provide stability in otherwise uncertain times.
Mathis didn't graduate with his bachelor's degree saying "I want to be an oceanographer," but he did say "I want an adventure."
Featured faculty
Jeremy Mathis, Asst. Prof. of Oceanography
Jeremy Mathis never expected to be an oceanographer in Alaska, and he certainly
never expected to be a voice for the effects of climate change on Alaska waters.
Atkinson takes the helm at the Fisheries Division
Shannon Atkinson is the new interim director of the UAF Fisheries Division, headquartered in Juneau.
Atkinson took the helm from Bill Smoker, after he retired this summer.
Standouts - Faculty and Staff News
AOOS launches Prince William Sound Field Experiment
This summer, the Alaska Ocean Observing System conducted high-tech, high-speed field experiments in Prince William Sound
to collect data and evaluate models that predict wind, waves, ocean circulation, and oil spill trajectories.
More
"I grew up hearing about Alaska from my parents and neighbors and later in college from friends who worked on fishing boats. The stories fed my imagination and much of what I imagined I found to be true."
Featured Staff
Deborah Mercy, Program Development Media Specialist
Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program
In 1976 I visited Anchorage during the spring break of my final year at the University of Washington. After graduation, that
same year, I got a job on a Southeast Alaska salmon purse seine fishing boat. We were based out of Craig on Prince of Wales
Island.
PROJECT Spotlight
Surveying the giant Pacific octopus
by Tara Borland, Proposal Coordinator
In a partnership with the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, SFOS Marine Advisory Program agent, Reid Brewer, is working
on a project studying the ecology of the giant Pacific octopus.
"the curriculum has integrated classroom learning and 'real world' opportunities"
Featured Student
Mark Young, Bachelor of Arts in Fisheries
The Army brought my family and me to Alaska. My involvement with UAF started almost immediately upon my
arrival, both as a student and an adjunct instructor in the music department.
Welcome Aboard
by Madeline Scholl, Academic Programs Assistant
As we usher in a new academic year I would like to welcome and introduce our new graduate students joining the SFOS
community this fall. The 19 graduate students joining SFOS this September...
Undergraduate enrollment up at SFOS
SFOS has more undergraduate students than ever before, with 51 total undergraduate fisheries students enrolled this fall.
Standouts - Student News
Congratulations to our Spring 2009 graduates!
Congratulations to our Summer 2009 graduates!
Other Student News
Featured Alumna
Joan Braddock, Ph.D. Oceanography, 1989
SFOS alumnus honored by President Obama
President Obama recently awarded SFOS alumnus Dana Hanselman the 2008 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
Featured photo
Photo by Pam Goddard
Uinniq Ahgeak (second from left), a B.S. fisheries major, helps sort rockfish with the scientific crew on board
the F/V Vesteraalen as part of her summer internship with the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center.
